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San Francisco’s sky-high retreat

148 Rooms / 7 Suites

It’s no secret San Francisco has some of the world’s most stunning vistas and guests at Loews Regency San Francisco Hotel will certainly get an eyeful. The luxury hotel occupies the top 11 floors of a 48-story building in the heart of the bustling Financial District. (The lobby, restaurant, meeting spaces and spa are all on floors one through three.) No room is without an awe-inspiring view of the city, and many of those rooms look out over the bay at the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. On each of the room floors, there is an impressive 360-degree sky bridge — think of it as a glass hallway that looks out over virtually every part of SF.

The Rooms

The Regency’s hallways are decorated in pretty shades of navy and gold while the rooms they lead to have a more muted palette of the same color scheme. Cream Frette linens, taupe leather headboards, pale blue velvet chaise lounges and gold sconces give rooms a sumptuous feel. Little luxurious details, like iPhone docking stations on nightstands, binoculars for looking out the windows, rainforest showerheads and state-of-the-art Julien Farel blow dryers, make the spaces feel modern and supremely comfortable. The suites are airy and spacious with two bathrooms and two entrances (one into the bedroom and another into the parlor living room) and private terraces with sweeping bay-to-bay views.

The Spa

This intimate oasis is located on the third floor of the building and has dim lighting, soothing music and a lovely tea service. Gray and taupe wood is everywhere — on the floor and lining the walls — and the treatment rooms are incredibly private, each with its own shower, changing area and wardrobe. The spa experience is highly customizable, from the color of light in the room to the scent that is used in products. Offerings include therapeutic massages, body scrubs, manicures, pedicures and facials. The third floor also houses a large fitness center equipped with Technogym treadmills, bikes, rowing machines, free weights, balls and ample studio space for yoga.

The Dining

Brasserie S&P is located on the first floor to the left of a small lobby and is open all day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The food is classic Californian — healthy, fresh and vibrantly flavored. There’s a juice bar menu in the morning (we’d like to start every day with the Green Mixology, a blend of kale, apple, celery, cucumber, lemon and ginger). Crisp garden-fresh salads and innovative sandwiches, like seared mahi-mahi with tomato puttanesca, capers and olives, are on the lunch menu. Dinner options range from grilled octopus with confit fingerling potatoes to open ravioli with sautéed spinach, wild mushrooms, and ricotta cheese.

The San Francisco hotel restaurant’s second floor offers 5,000 square feet of meeting rooms, including an Asian-inspired intimate ballroom with elaborately patterned carpet and a cozy library with plenty of character and wood-paneled shelves filled with books.